Solving a class of multiplicative programming problems via c-programming

In this note we show that many classes of global optimization problems can be treated most satisfactorily by classical optimization theory and conventional algorithms. We focus on the class of problems involving the minimization of the product of several convex functions on a convex set which was studied recently by Kunoet al. [3]. It is shown that these problems are typical composite concave programming problems and thus can be handled elegantly by c-programming [4]–[8] and its techniques.     

Calculation of the infrared spectrum and density of the vibrational states of an SiO2 melt by molecular dynamics

The density of the vibrational states of an SiO₂ melt under various PT conditions, the distributions of the Si-O-Si and O-Si-O angles in it, and its IR absorption spectra have been calculated by molecular dynamics with the use of a pairwise additive Born-Mayer potential. A comparison with the experimental data reveals that the ionic approximation selected is capable of basically reproducing the structural and spectroscopic properties of the melt, but the distributions of the bond angles are considerably broader than the experimentally determined distributions, and the absorption band caused by the stretching vibrations is not displayed in the calculated spectrum. The disparities indicated are apparently due to the isotropic nature of the potential of the interparticle interactions.V. I. Vernadskii Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 467–470, July–August, 1991. Original article submitted October 12, 1990.     

Stable Subnorms II

In this paper we continue our study of stability properties of subnorms on subsets of finite-dimensional, power-associative algebras over the real or the complex numbers.     

Policies for biodefense revisited: The prioritized vaccination process for smallpox

Handling bioterror events that involve contagious agents is a major concern for authorities and a cause for debate among policymakers about the best response policy. At the core of this debate stands the question which of the two post-event policies to adopt: mass vaccination or trace (also called ring or targeted) vaccination. We present a new dynamic epidemic-intervention model that captures key features of the situation and generalizes some previous assumptions regarding the probability distributions of inter-temporal parameters. It is shown that a mixture of mass and trace vaccination policies—the prioritized vaccination policy—is more effective than either of the two aforementioned policies.     

The preparation and X-ray structural study of complexes that catalyze isocyanate cyclotrimerization

A 11-complex of trinitrophenol with benzyldimethylamine (1) and a 111-complex, the product of the interaction of benzyldimethylamine, glycidyl phenyl ether, and phenol (2), have been synthesized and characterized by means of X-ray analysis. Complex1 is a precursor for the catalysts of selective isocyanate cyclotrimerization, while complex2 is one of those catalysts. In the crystal structure complex1 forms H-bonded cationic-anionic aggregates with proton transfer from phenol to the N-atom of the tertiary amine. Complex2 crystallizes as a monohydrate (2a) with a strong H-bond between the quaternary ammonium and phenolic components, and exists in crystals in the form of globular H-bonded dimeric hydrates. Possible pathways of dissociation of complex2a are discussed. The data obtained may be used as a basis for further interpretation of the regularities of cyclotrimerization of isocyanates catalyzed by complexes of this type.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No 1, pp. 92–97, January, 1993.     

An asymptotic finite element method for improvement of solutions of boundary layer problems

Summary A scheme that uses singular perturbation theory to improve the performance of existing finite element methods is presented. The proposed scheme improves the error bounds of the standard Galerkin finite element scheme by a factor of O(ⁿ⁺¹) (where is the small parameter andn is the order of the asymptotic approximation). Numerical results for linear second order O.D.E.'s are given and are compared with several other schemes.     

Large effect of polydispersity on defect concentrations in colloidal crystals

We compute the equilibrium concentration of stacking faults and point defects in polydisperse hard-sphere crystals. We find that, while the concentration of stacking faults remains similar to that of monodisperse hard-sphere crystals, the concentration of vacancies decreases by about a factor of 2. Most strikingly, the concentration of interstitials in the maximally polydisperse crystal may be some six orders of magnitude larger than in a monodisperse crystal. We show that this dramatic increase in interstitial concentration is due to the increased probability of finding small particles and that the small-particle tail of the particle size distribution is crucial for the interstitial concentration in a colloidal crystal.     

Dispersion polymerization of styrene: Effect of surfactant

The influence of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), a steric stabilizer, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), an electrostatic stabilizer, on the stability of styrene dispersion polymerized systems was studied. It was shown that in stabilization by PVA there was pronounced bridging of the submicron emulsion particles to 10-μ dispersion particles and that the emulsion particles could not be washed off. In SDS stabilization, on the other hand, the emulsion formed was easily washed off because bridging with SDS does not occur. The surface tension of the aqueous phase measured during polymerization showed different characteristics for stable and unstable systems.